HOMEWORK HELP TRAINING

1. HOMEWORK HELP TRAINING CalSERVES Napa County Office of Education

2. CALSERVES NAPA COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION CalSERVES is a designated California After School Demonstration Program (CASDP).The CASDP is a component of the statewide technical assistance system for After School Education and Safety (ASES) and 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) programs. The purpose of this program is to model and promote high quality after school practices, and provide statewide supportto other after school programs in the state. • Presenters: • Melissa Moore, Site Supervisor • Katie O’looney-McCormick, Site Supervisor • Annette Zucconi, M.Ed., Program Manager Contact information regarding CASDP Technical Assistance annette.zucconi@calserves.org

3. MINGLE….MINGLE….MINGLE • What are some of the feelings that you associated with having to do homework? • What do you remember about homework? • Do you think that there is anything different about homework today vs. when you were a kid?

4. TRAINING GOALS Participants will gain new knowledge and understanding of their role in facilitating an effective homework help time through: • Effective Homework Systems • Supporting students in their student’s ability to think about their own learning, Before, During and After. • Regular communication with Parents and Teachers

5. EFFECTIVE HOMEWORK SYSTEMS • Structured, predictable HW time • Supplies: HW Boxes, Help Tags • Help Strategies (Praise, prompt & move on) • Silent Minutes • Seating Charts • Mini Lessons • Incentives & Rewards • After Homework Activities • Daily accountability for every student

6. AFTER HOMEWORK STRATEGIES • Keys to planning effective After-Homework activities: • Provide quick preview of options before HW time: • When can they choose an activity? • What are their choices? Activity directions. • How do they choose an activity? • Don’t make it too enticing • Limit the use of dittos/copies • Supports the program vision

7. SUPPORT STUDENT’S ABILITY TO THINK ABOUT THEIR OWN LEARNING, BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER • Before: Activating Prior Knowledge. • During: Invite students to reflect on the different strategies and approaches for problem solving. Encourage independent strategy development • After: Encourage reflection on their process, work, goals and achievement.

8. Before Learning:ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE One of THE most important variables with Learning is a student's prior knowledge. By tapping into what students already know, teachers help with the learning process. This is because learning IS relating the new information, or concepts, to what we already know. Making the connection to something that we already know, gives the new information somewhere to stick.

9. During Learning:EXPLORE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES …..because there is rarely 1 right way to get to the solution. RIVER CROSSING:A man needs to cross a river in a canoe.  With him, he has a bag of grain, a chicken, and a fox.  He can only carry one of the three at a time.  If he leaves the grain and the chicken alone, the chicken will eat the grain.  If he takes the grain, the fox will eat the chicken. 

How does he successfully cross the river with his load?

10. WHAT STRATEGIES DID YOU USE? • Choose an Operation • Find a Pattern • Make a Table • Make an Organized List • Draw a Picture or Diagram • Guess, Check, and Revise • Use Logical Reasoning • Work Backward • What else would have helped?

11. WOLVES & CHICKENS SOLUTION The man first takes the chicken across, leaving it on the other side.  He returns alone in the canoe and picks up the bag of grain.  After bringing across the grain, he takes the chicken back to the original side, dropping him off, and picking up the fox.  After bringing the fox to the other side, and leaving it with the grain, the man returns back to the original side, retrieving the chicken, and making his 3rd and final trip crossing the river.  At no point was the fox left alone with the chicken, or the chicken with the grain.

12. During Learning:ENCOURAGING INDEPENDENT STRATEGIES • Organizing: work, directions, prioritizing • Modeling and offering strategies • Identifying stumbling blocks

13. After Learning: REFLECTION • When students think about • what they’ve done • how they’ve done it • what strategies they’ve used • what they’ve achieved • what they still want to achieve… • …They are developing skills that can be generalized across subjects and situations. They have new skills for school & life. Reflection provides this. Don’t skip it.

14. REAL-LIFE HOMEWORK SCENARIOS • Read the scenario. • Come up with strategies for developing independence. • We will debrief whole-group.

15. PARENT COMMUNICATION • Introduce self • Establish a positive relationship early • Daily reports to parents • Strategies when faced with a language barrier

16. D. TEACHER COMMUNICATION • Introduce yourself. Be mindful of teacher’s limited time. Never interrupt teaching. • Seek information regarding curriculum topics being covered. See “Classroom Connection” form in handout. • Request a copy of grade-level text books • Communication Tools: • Use Homework Stamp for daily communication • Weekly homework communication forms • Partners: Mentor Teacher, ASTL, Grade-level Teachers & Supervising Teacher.

17. SANDWICH STRATEGY • How to approach a parent when challenges arise: • Start off with praise • Be cautious of tone, words and body language • Be sensitive to adult’s “aura” • Be clear and concise • At the end, communicate a positive expectation • Practice dialogue before parent arrival • When in doubt, have Team Leader or Supervising Teacher present. Let’s Try it!

18. REFLECTION • What one thing did you learn about your role, effective homework systems, &/or communication that you do not want to forget?